Channel 4 launches 4seven
March 8, 2012
By Colin Mann
UK public service commercial broadcaster Channel 4 is launching a new service – 4seven – the first new channel for the broadcaster since 2005.
Delivering a keynote speech at the FT Digital Media Conference in London, David Abraham, Channel 4 Chief Executive, described the channel as containing “the noisiest bits of Channel 4”.
Launching across all major TV platforms later this year, the channel will give viewers another chance to catch up with the most popular and talked about Channel 4 content from the last seven days via their remote control rather than going online.
Abraham noted that with so much choice available, viewers were increasingly saying they sometimes “just miss” the best stuff, despite their PVR and VOD. “4seven will give viewers more chances to catch the most popular and talked about Channel 4 shows from the last seven days,” he advised.
“It will schedule the main channel content that is creating noise – amongst social media, bloggers, commentators and of course via contact our viewers have directly with us – and incorporate this buzz into the look and feel of the channel. Scheduled in close harmony with all our other channels, 4seven will be a powerful way of maximising the audience for the many hours of new Channel 4 programming we launch every week, as well as an opportunity to direct viewers back to Channel 4 to watch more,” he added
“The launch of 4seven also supports our strategy of embracing the opportunities of connectivity, by exploring ways to deepen engagement with our viewers and expand the choices we can offer them,” he concluded.